NAIOP North Carolina members with SenatorThom Tillis last week in Washington

Members of the Charlotte Chapter of NAIOP traveled to Washington, D.C., last week to meet with members of Congress about issues critical to North Carolina’s commercial real estate industry. The Capitol Hill visits were part of NAIOP’s annual Chapter Leadership and Legislative Retreat, and gave Charlotte developers a chance to advocate on a range of topics, including:

Establishing a reasonable cost recovery period for qualified leasehold improvements;

Advocating for increased federal investment in our national infrastructure, including roads, ports and bridges; and,

Encouraging Congress to incentivize energy-efficient construction without imposing new mandates.

During the course of the day, NAIOP members met with Senator Thom Tillis and congressmenRichard Hudson and Patrick McHenry. Thanks to those NAIOP members who took time out of their busy schedules to advocate for commercial real estate priorities on Capitol Hill!

While the updated draft isn’t scheduled to be released until the week of February 18th, it is expected to include an expanded menu of incentives to encourage developers to include affordable housing, make infrastructure investments, or participate in the City’s Minority, Women and Small Business Enterprises (MWSBE) program. The current draft only offers developers an opportunity to increase their building height, which REBIC cautioned could be of limited value to developers. In a letter to City staff last month, we encouraged the inclusion of incentives that would provide variances on building length, building articulation, or required open space. Continue reading →